Innovative features, client relationships, and a business model built to last: inside J&J Custom Homes
The Kennedy is a shining example of J&J Custom Homes craftsmanship and innovation; a modern home with an almost European sensibility. Featuring stucco finishes, painted brick, barrel ceilings, and exposed beams, this spectacular project for the Parade of Homes is due for completion in August [at the time of writing]. Although its secret doors and see-through glass wine room are truly impressive, what’s even more striking about The Kennedy is the story of the company behind it; a luxury custom home division that was launched from a family remodeling business only five and a half years ago, and is currently creating houses to rival the most established luxury builders in Southeast Wisconsin.
Described by owner Jason Cyborowski, as a truly stunning home, The Kennedy is just one of many elegant projects in J&J Custom Homes’ portfolio of modern-style homes. “We love being immersed in that market, and we tend to attract much more of that work because there aren’t actually many firms in our area building modern homes right now,” elaborates Jason, who reveals more about the history of his business. “J&J Custom Homes is our building company, but paired with that, we’ve started several other companies that support it. We started Cast and Copper Plumbing, which handles all the plumbing for our builds, and we also acquired a company called Sunrise Flooring, which takes care of all the flooring for our custom homes. Our remodeling group handles interior and exterior remodeling, roofing and siding for the new homes, and then we also have finish carpenters, painters, and various other tradespeople through J&J Contractors who support custom homes too.” Client demand for custom homes ultimately prompted Jason to separate the businesses and embark on the newer venture.
“The great thing about our setup is that, at J&J Contractors, we have a head project manager who oversees all the project managers, including those on the custom homes side,” continues Jason, explaining how collaboration is structured between the two businesses to maintain high quality and efficiency. “We also have a senior designer who oversees work across both the contracting and the custom homes divisions and, because of our growth, we’ve used project managers and designers from J&J Contractors as a stopgap to support J&J Custom Homes while we build out its own team. Having J&J Contractors as the mothership, so to speak, has really helped the custom homes business to grow.”
With a vertically integrated model delivering flooring, plumbing, and exterior work in-house, projects are completed more quickly, which is a valuable differentiator for the company. “It also helps on cost – instead of approaching external vendors where every layer is marked up by them first, then again by the builder, our way of working means everything is only marked up once, and the saving is passed directly to clients,” highlights Jason.
Up until now, J&J Custom Homes’ strategic choice not to exceed 15 builds per year has propelled the company’s purposeful growth – this year though, it is already on track to finish up to 20 homes. “It’s certainly a positive development for us, but we don’t plan to go beyond that,” Jason emphasizes. “That’s going to be our ceiling. We continuously endeavor to deliver a quality product and be available for our customers every step of the way.” To keep offering the same high quality and attention the business is renowned for, it plans to stay focused on the area of Milwaukee and its surrounding communities, where Jason and his wife Kelly are based, along with Co-Owner Matt Kawczynski. “Kelly is our brilliant lead designer, and she designs our parade models and show homes, working in collaboration with our design team coordinator, Reagan,” Jason details. “Matt is my business partner, and he handles all the contracts, permits and drawings – everything that needs to happen before the design team gets involved and before anything goes in the ground. Once we’re building and into selections, the project managers and designers take over from there.
“We work incredibly well together but I wouldn’t say everything is seamless – nothing truly is! We are transparent though and I always tell customers during the sales process that there are likely to be challenges and obstacles along the way. I can’t promise them absolute perfection, but what I can promise them is that, by the end of the process, they will have their new home and it’s going to be everything they wanted. If there are any issues, we’ll make it right, and they’ll have nothing to worry about. I genuinely believe in that.”
As the custom home builder looks ahead to the next five years, Jason aims to maintain its competitive pricing – the key to its advantageous positioning within the sector. “There aren’t many builders in our market who can beat us on cost,” he summarizes. “My ambition is to create strong relationships with the customer and ultimately build their dream. That’s what I want it to be about and that’s what drives us – making the experience as great as possible.” For J&J Custom Homes, the measure of success was never about how many homes it could build or how much it could sell them for – it was always what those homes meant to the people inside them; a philosophy that looks set to remain.